MARKHAM, ONT. — A lovely song was audible from the deck above the 18th green early last night, when Mike Weir approached the final green at Angus Glen Golf Club's North course as it will play for this month's Canadian Open. (The 17th and 18th for the tournament are usually the closing holes on the South course.)
Weir pronounced the song, Jerusalem of Gold, "relaxing," as the Jewish wedding proceeded nearby.
Weir had in fact been relaxed all afternoon during his round, but also intent on checking out the course on Canada Day for the first time since he played a Skins game there six years ago. Davis Love III and his design associate Bob Spence have recently strengthened the course in anticipation of the 2007 Canadian Open.
Out on the par-four 12th hole, Weir had ripped a low-flying drive into a hefty wind and found the fairway. Kevin Thistle, the personable gentleman who has led the way as Angus Glen has become one of Canada's most successful public facilities, told Weir that Love had changed the bunkers, brought in the fescue lines and pond to tighten the fairway, and built a new tee so that the water would come into play.
"This is a beefy hole," Weir told Thistle and his brother, Jim.
The Weir brothers were playing a friendly match against Rob Roxborough, the head professional at nearby Magna Golf Club, and Bill Hutcheson, an accomplished amateur who belongs to the National Golf Club in Woodbridge, Ont. Hutcheson and Weir are friends from many years ago, but, Weir said, this was the first time they'd played together since he turned pro 15 years ago.
Weir was having some fun in the match, but that didn't mean he wasn't trying to win. Hutcheson holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole. Weir had a 20-footer from the right side of the hole to tie the hole.
"It's going to be a nice half, Hutchy," Weir predicted. His putt looked good but rolled across the left edge.
"I wanted that one," Weir said. "That's what happens when you want something too much. It catches the lip."
But Weir made up for losing that hole. He drilled a long birdie putt into the cup on the 16th hole, after which Hutcheson and Roxborough pressed their opponents.
Roxborough's shot with a hybrid club on the 208-yard 17th drifted into a bunker. Weir held on to his 3-iron through the ball — he was working on extension — and hit a solid shot that finished 45 feet left of the hole. Roxborough's bunker shot came up 12 feet short and the conversation turned to a bunker tip he'd given that was to appear in ScoreGolf Magazine's May of 2003 issue.
"You bumped me when you won that green thing," Roxborough told his friend from Bright's Grove, Ont., who won the 2003 Masters and the green jacket that goes along with it. Weir was on the May 2003 cover, above the title Mike's Masterpiece, while Roxborough made it on to the cover of the June issue.
Now, Weir was over that 45-foot putt to win the 17th hole. "Got a little press-arama going here," he said to put a little heat on himself. He rolled the putt in.
Weir said the course was a little more demanding off the tee than it was six years ago, and that driving, as well as controlling the ball from pitching areas and rough around the greens, would be important during the Canadian Open.
"The rough is heavy," he said. "It's not really long right now. It will be longer in a month, but even now the little bit that's out there, it's very heavy, so it's tough to get the ball airborne and get a consistent strike out of the rough."
Weir predicted a winning score of between 10 to 15 under par, reasonable for a tournament that is an unusual combination of a national championship and PGA Tour event. Meanwhile, Weir leaves today for this week's AT&T National at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., where Tiger Woods is host, and will next play the British Open, which starts July 19.
Weir's early practice round was over, and the wedding music continued. Weir smiled. He wouldn't mind some different music on Sunday, July 29, the last day of the Canadian Open. Something like O Canada would work.
It was announced last week, after all, that Weir will become a Member of the Order of Canada. He also wouldn't mind becoming a member of the order of Canadian Open champions.
rube@sympatico.ca
